Florida football recruiting: 2018 WR Ja’Marr Chase commits to Gators

The Florida Gators’ Friday Night Lights weekend was already sealed as one of the greatest in program history after Saturday night, when elite quarterback Matt Corral committed to the Gators, giving Jim McElwain perhaps his single most important commitment to date.

Then, on Sunday, the Gators staged a nigh-unbelievable caper: They got a commitment from Ja’Marr Chase, a four-star wide receiver from Louisiana that LSU was said to want.

Chase is a 2018 recruit, now the 12th in Florida’s class — which has rocketed up from outside the top 50 this week, and should now sit within the top 15. He was thought of as an LSU-TCU battle when he went to The Opening, Nike’s summer camp for elite prep football players, and was considered something of a surprising inclusion on Florida’s Friday Night Lights visitor list, given that he had a top three sans the Gators entering the weekend.

Exiting it, he is a Gator — or, at least, a Gator to be.

Chase appears to be a playmaker on the outside in his highlights, and would seem to possess decent size for a wideout at 6’1” and around 190 pounds; he’s also the No. 109 prospect in the 2018 class per the 247Sports Composite rankings. Chase hails from Metairie in the Pelican State, and it seems clear that New Orleans native Tim Skipper was integral in his recruitment, despite now coaching linebackers instead of an offensive position.

Chase is Florida’s eighth new commitment in the last six days.